In wind power plants with a horizontal rotor axis, the generator is conventionally accommodated in direct proximity to the rotors in the gondola at the tip of the tower. The power cables, which connect the generator to the mains power supply at the foot of the tower, are laid on the inner wall of the tower. In order to simplify assembly of the overall wind power plant, the tower is composed of individual preassembled segments. Each of these segments already contains in particular a corresponding portion of the cabling. Over the course of the assembly of the tower, the cable portions of the individual segments are joined together. The difficulties and the considerable costs of subsequent cabling can be avoided in this way.
US document US 2006/0199411 discloses an improved cable system for a wind power plant, in which the cable portions of each tower segment are provided at both ends with plug connectors, with the aid of which the individual cable portions are joined together during the assembly of the tower. This is intended to simplify both the assembly and the maintenance of the cabling.
The plug connectors used for connecting the power cable portions and the contact elements of the plug connectors have to be adapted to the increased electrical and mechanical requirements.
A high-current contact element made of a sheet metal stamped part is known from document DE 197 03 984 A1. This conventional contact element has a contact region in the form of a contact socket or a contact pin for contacting a matching mating contact element, the contact region having a large number of resilient contact points. Each of these resilient contact points consists of a spring tongue which is formed by correspondingly stamped out cutouts in the sheet metal stamped part.
However, this conventional high-current contact element has the drawback that the available line cross section is restricted by the cutouts which are indispensable for forming the spring tongues. Under appropriate current loads, this leads to intensive local heating of the contact element and can even lead to overheating of the plug connector as a whole.